Sneaky casino decision before Parliamentary vote

That's how Alliance MP Phillida Bunkle is
describing a Casino Control Authority decision to grant two
casino licences in Queenstown on the day that parliament
votes on her casino Bill.

She's vowing that a new
Government will remove the existing Casino Control Authority
for its decisions.

Phillida Bunkle's Bill allows local
communities to vote on whether a casino will be allowed in
their community. The Bill will be voted in parliament
tonight.

In April the Casino Control Authority granted
'interim licences' to the two Queenstown casinos and
construction work on them began. Interim licences have no
existence in law and cannot be challenged in court the way a
final licence can. Today the Casino Control Authority issued
final licences, dodging both the parliamentary vote and the
possibility of legal challenge to the licences in advance of
the vote.

"If my Bill had been voted on before the
licences had been issued then the people of Queenstown would
at last have had a chance to vote on the casinos and have
their voice heard," Phillida Bunkle said.

"The CCA's
action has ensured that whatever the will of parliament, the
people of Queenstown will not have a say.

"The CCA knows
that the Queenstown community is deeply opposed to the
casinos and that if they get the chance to vote on the
subject the casinos will be stopped. What are the odds that
the CCA would just coincidentally issue the final licences
hours before parliament votes?

"In my view the behaviour
of the Casino Control Authority makes its membership totally
unsuitable for the role they have and it should be a top
priority of a new government to send them packing," Phillida
Bunkle said.

"A huge majority of parliament voted to send
my Bill to Select Committee in June 1997. It has been
delayed by the National Party and the Rev Ann Batten for two
years so that the licences can go ahead and the will of
parliament could be frustrated."

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